The present disclosure generally relates to sheet product dispensers, and more particularly, to sheet product dispensers allowing at least two different orientations of dispensing.
One example of a sheet product dispenser is an inter-folded napkin dispenser. Inter-folded napkin dispensers are well known in the art. For example, a gravity-feed dispenser and method of dispensing inter-folded napkins is described in United States Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0062375 to Christensen et al. Such dispensers are particularly useful where a large number of napkins need to be made available at a single location. Likewise, there is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,585,129 to Moody et al., a napkin dispenser for inter-folded napkins, which may be placed on tabletops giving consumers multiple access points in a given eating establishment.
Spring-loaded dispensers, which are often used in restaurants, are somewhat prone to being over-filled such that they do not operate properly and are relatively expensive. These dispensers also may cause unwanted curl to be imparted to the napkins. See United States Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0019880 to Timmers et al. Further features and general background may be found in the following patents: U.S. Pat. No. 5,076,466 to Petterson et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,838,454 to Salzmann et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,679,703 to De Luca; U.S. Pat. No. 2,852,158 to Jones et al., as well as U.S. Pat. No. 2,426,136 to Agamaite, Jr.
Despite advances in the art, a continual need exits for relatively inexpensive sheet product dispensers, especially dispensers that are designed to reliably supply inter-folded napkins in a commercial setting.